Ransomware to remain cybercrime mainstay in 2018: Report

The ransomware attacks will manifest itself in a more 'specialised' and 'targeted manner', unlike the earlier approach. With respect to India, in 2018, we will experience more number of attacks targeted at the ATMs, especially malware attacks.IANS | December 07, 2017, 07:59 IST

Bengaluru, The trend of known vulnerabilities being used in major cyber attacks will continue in 2018 with the ransomware business model being a cybercrime mainstay, a new report said on Wednesday.

Cybersecurity solutions leader Trend Micro predicted an increase in Internet of Things (IoT) vulnerabilities as more devices are manufactured without security regulations or industry standards.

Overall, the increased connectivity and enlarged attack surface present new opportunities for cybercriminals to leverage known issues to penetrate a corporate network, the company said in a statement.

"The ransomware attacks will manifest itself in a more 'specialised' and 'targeted manner', unlike the earlier approach. With respect to India, in 2018, we will experience more number of attacks targeted at the ATMs, especially malware attacks.

"We also expect to see a rise in security incidents across Public Cloud platforms," said Nilesh Jain, Country Manager, India and SAARC, Trend Micro.

Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks will also continue to gain popularity with attackers, as the return on investment for successful attacks is quite high.

"We at Trend Micro are constantly scouting out future threats that will have the greatest impact for businesses, and we predict which vulnerabilities will make the biggest waves in the coming year," said Rik Ferguson, Vice President of Security Research for Trend Micro.

Many devastating cyberattacks in 2017 leveraged known vulnerabilities that could have been prevented had they been patched beforehand.

"This trend will continue next year as corporate attack surfaces expand and expose more security holes. While this remains a challenge for enterprises, executives should prioritise vulnerability management as they make 2018 cybersecurity plans," Ferguson cautioned.

Threat actors will also leverage growing technologies, like blockchain and machine learning, to enhance obfuscation against traditional cybersecurity protections in 2018.